Thursday, April 1, 2010

President Obama's abysmal attitude toward the State of Israel and his humiliating treatment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is shocking. In the Washington Post on March 24th, Jackson Diehl wrote, "Obama has added more poison to a U.S.-Israeli relationship that already was at its lowest point in two decades. Tuesday night the White House refused to allow non-official photographers record the president's meeting with Netanyahu; no statement was issued afterward. Netanyahu is being treated as if he were an unsavory Third World dictator, needed for strategic reasons but conspicuously held at arms length.Buyer's remorse? A little late.

Friday, March 19, 2010

We the Patients have been left out of the negotiation. All I’ve seen are meetings with doctors, lawyers, insurance company’s, pharmaceutical company’s, union bosses, and politicians (who are not affected by this disaster because they have voted themselves lifetime premium medical coverage that is not accessible to the rest of us 300 million citizens) Glaringly absent from the negotiation are any private individuals? Why is that?

Washington has forgotten what insurance is. Insurance is nothing more than a hedge against loss in the event of a catastrophe. Insurance companies do not provide health care. They do not develop new technologies or make medical advances. They simply hedge against financial ruin in the event of a major illness or injury. Here’s my thoughts on a starting place for health reform?

1. Care providers should have to post their prices for their services and should not be able to charge a different price depending on who’s paying the bill. Should a gas station charge you a higher price if you’re paying with a company gas card? If providers are forced to disclose prices and compete for your business, price comes down. In some industries “Negotiated Rates” might be referred to as collusion and is illegal. And, if I’m not mistaken there are 31 States with Anti-Price gouging laws in an emergency, why are these laws not applicable in a medical emergency? Why do we accept this from health care providers? 3rd party payer is the root of the problem why prices are so high.

2. Basic care and maintenance like check-ups, doctor visits, etc. should be paid directly by the consumer. If medical care providers have to disclose their prices and consumers are responsible to pay for their own care watch how quickly care costs come down. Look at cosmetic and Lasik surgery and veterinary medicine. Insurance doesn’t cover it so providers must find a way to compete for your business and they do this by either lowering cost or increasing services. And, If insurance companies are not responsible for every medical bill then they will lower their premiums and when individuals pay less in premiums it frees up more money to pay for regular medical care. You don’t expect your homeowners insurance to cover when your dishwasher breaks or plumbing backs up. What would your car insurance premiums be if they had to cover oil changes and tuneups? Premiums come down if insurance is only used as intended.

3. Congress should pass legislation to prohibit the “pre-existing” conditions denial of insurance and return insurance to its original intent which is a hedge against loss in a catastrophic event or illness. Think outside the box on how risk is pooled. Risk pools are arbitrary and need to be completely open in order to spread risk. Instead of mandating everyone must buy coverage, they should mandate that insurers must cover everyone. Insurers play the odds that most people live healthy lives and make money when people pay premiums for long periods of time with no incidents or claims and yes they must pay those claims when they occur but if they are receiving premiums from a huge number of people who don’t get cancer as most don’t or become injured in a fiery crash as most don’t, then they make profits and employ people and the industry contributes to the economy. But insurers don’t need to pay higher prices (“negotiated rates”) charged by care providers because all that does is raise premiums.

4. All insurance should be sold individually and not provided through employers. This way, if you lose your job you don’t lose your insurance. If an employer wants to pay an amount toward your premium as a part of a benefits package that’s between you and them and not mandatory. If you lose your job, you simply lose that employers contribution toward your premium but your next employer may pick it up as part of their benefit’s package again, that’s negotiated between you an that employer.

5. Propose a plan to END medicare and medicaid. These are unsustainable entitlements that hinder fairness and competition and fleece taxpayers out of their earnings for something they will not benefit from. I say do the hard thing now! For seniors who are currently using the system, they should continue to receive these services because they have paid into this system on the promise of receiving benefits. To reduce or remove it from them now is theft and Americans are NOT promise breakers who go back on their word. However we need a plan to phase out medicare and medicaid over a period of time so that we have something better in place by the time the next generation of seniors arrive; Something that better reflects The United States of America not The United Socialist States of America. We are NOT a socialist nation and that has served us well for some 230 years. Why fix what ain’t broken?

6. Any new bill needs to make absolutely clear that absolutely NO Abortions will be paid for with tax payer dollars. The Bill of Rights – Amendment I – states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…..” One of the ways I “freely exercise” my religion is to not kill babies, If this is true then congress can NOT pass any law forcing me to subsidize with my taxes something that violates my free exercise of my religion, which is to not kill babies.

This a good starting point in any meaningful discussion on real health care reform. Unfortunately, Washington is not interested in the truth or reasoned debate. Unfortunately, Washington is not interested in what we the people and we the patients want. Unfortunately, Washington thinks that we the people are not capable to think for ourselves.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

In his State of the Union address Wednesday night, President Obama asked lawmakers to "work through our differences, to overcome the numbing weight of our politics." On Thursday, Republicans sent their answer. The Senate took a vote on extending the federal debt ceiling -- without which the United States would go into default. All 40 Republicans voted no.Every leader in BOTH the Democratic and the Republican party should be proud to say NO to bad policy.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

I cringe when I hear Robertson, or other Christian leaders, say such things. As a strong Christian myself I can tell you I have nothing but compassion for the people of Haiti.It’s moments like these that I envy atheists. They can just sit back and laugh, while I have to stand up and get associated with this jerk.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Obama has no credentials beyond walking on water, and being a ward heeler, political mafia strong arm and snake oil salesman. He can set forth on a mission to bring us together, but it will be laced with blame placing, posturing and fairy dust promises that only the unicorn crowd will hearDo you think attacking Republicans, repeatedly criticizing your predecessor and whining about the problems you inherited (even after spending two years working so you could face those problems head-on) might have something to do with it?If he wants to change Washington, it’s all in his hands. He can make the decision to broadcast negotiations on C-SPAN and tell Congress to eliminate the backroom deals from the bill.Once this health care charade has played out, we the people will go to the polls and speak our minds. God grant us the strength to act with wisdom, piety and a determination to protect of our posterity.

Glenn Beck will be giving the keynote address at next month’s Conservative Political Action Conference and that alone could boost Republican efforts to get behind the tea party movement, lets hope that he could light a fine in our efforts. If anyone could do it, Glenn Beck can. Glenn Beck is one of the most talented and entertaining speakers ever. He has the ability to draw in an audience and hold them. I admire him a lot and know he will be a hit with the CPAC people.Obama's Socialist-Democrats will be slaughtered in November 2010 and Obama will be looking for work in January 2013. The RINOs will not fare well, either. I doubt that McCain or any of the blue-bloods will be re-elected. Americans are just as fed up with the social liberalism of the Republicans as they are with Obama's Socialism.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Nelson, you're a liar and a coward. You are TOAST in the next election, and your abandonment of your principles and the will of the people of Nebraska (and America) is the reason. You sold out the unborn, stole from the American people with the "Cornhusker Kickback", and now you're trying to defend your slimy actions? Please.

You want to "repair damage at home"? ADMIT YOU WERE WRONG, AND VOW--oh, and actually MEAN IT this time--TO VOTE "NO" IF THIS CRAP REACHES THE SENATE AGAIN. Then you might actually stand a chance of not being utterly SHELLACKED in your next campaign. I doubt you'll actually win (cowards don't get second chances, I'm afraid) but maybe you'll at least save a little face...and possibly your actual soul.

Otherwise, you can rot on the vine with the rest of the idiots who voted in the affirmative for this thing...and burn in Hell for what you've done to the millions of unborn about to be murdered in your name. You won't even get a job as dog catcher after this crap you pulled.

Good Luck! Anyone who prostitutes himself and has to be bribed to vote for a POS like Obamacare deserves to be kicked to the curb. If Nelson was my Congressman he would be TOAST!

Nelson has proved that he is not a man of honor. He sells out his vote for a sceme that appears to be unconstitutional, and if the various Attorney's General win their promissed lawsuits the people of his state will get no special treatment. Then Nelson has the nerve to publically announce that he believes that the government should have waited on healthcare. Why did Nelson vote for the plan if he truley believed that we should have waited on the takeover of the health insurance industry.

Nelson has proven that he cares nothing about his wishes of his constituents, and he is nothing more than another liberal democrat jumping through the hoops that Harry Reid holds up in front of him. Nelson should now be known as "Harry's lap dog". Harry Reid says "bark for me Ben.. bark for me" and Ben Nelson rolls over, barks and shows the world he is little more than a puppet for the racist Harry Reid.